Intellivision HSC Season 13 - Game 1 - Space Armada

[IntyFanMatt]

2 hours ago, Intelligentleman said:

Do you think, though, that it makes the game feel faster paced and more action packed? Because that seems like the trade off to me...

Possibly. But I still think it would be just as fun if they were smaller, making it easier to clear screens and get farther in the game. I think getting farther equals more fun for me. 

[+BiffMan]

3 hours ago, Intelligentleman said:

Last night I discovered that it’s possible to hit the saucer at the very top of the screen and take out two purple ships along with it!

Fun to do when starting a new level if you time it right. Great way to start a level! 

[Rickster8]

1 hour ago, IntyFanMatt said:

Possibly. But I still think it would be just as fun if they were smaller, making it easier to clear screens and get farther in the game. I think getting farther equals more fun for me. 

But remember if they were smaller then they'd be more difficult to hit. There would be many more missed shots....

[Intelligentleman]

10 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

But remember if they were smaller then they'd be more difficult to hit. There would be many more missed shots....

That’s my recollection of space invaders. I couldn’t hit Crap until they were right on top of me. That said, I didn’t grow up playing a ton of space invaders. Really only played it on the Super Gameboy.

 

It would be interesting to go back and play it again now.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Intelligentleman

[Intelligentleman]

Does anyone else always try to blast an alien before they appear in a new level? I always try to go to the far right and start firing shots before the aliens show up. Can usually get one off.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Intelligentleman

[Rickster8]

2 minutes ago, Intelligentleman said:

Does anyone else always try to blast an alien before they appear in a new level? I always try to go to the far right and start firing shots before the aliens show up. Can usually get one off.

Yes definitely, every single round for me starts that way.... 😁

[Oscar G.]

11 minutes ago, Intelligentleman said:

Does anyone else always try to blast an alien before they appear in a new level? I always try to go to the far right and start firing shots before the aliens show up. Can usually get one off.

Yes definitely. An early blast to one of the purple ones at the top of the screen is sweet. I also try to hit them at the top right corner. Cheers. 

[Oscar G.]

Small improvement:

 

Oscar G. 36,580

 

(after this my console died

 

 

[IntyFanMatt]

31 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

But remember if they were smaller then they'd be more difficult to hit. There would be many more missed shots....

I'm only talking a few fractions smaller, so they take more time to drop.  What I envision in my mind is the same number of aliens, just a little bit smaller and still easy to hit.  But screens would be slightly easier to clear.  That's all I'm sayin'.  🙂  

Edited July 17, 2020 by IntyFanMatt

[IntyFanMatt]

23 minutes ago, Intelligentleman said:

That’s my recollection of space invaders. I couldn’t hit Crap until they were right on top of me. That said, I didn’t grow up playing a ton of space invaders. Really only played it on the Super Gameboy.

 

It would be interesting to go back and play it again now.

What I envision is the aliens would be bigger than the ones in Space Invaders, but a bit smaller than they are now.  Maybe the homebrew community could tweak this game a bit to give us those options!

Edited July 17, 2020 by IntyFanMatt

[Intelligentleman]

33 minutes ago, Oscar G. said:

Small improvement:

 

Oscar G. 36,580

 

(after this my console died

 

 

Oh noooo... do you have a replacement?

[Rickster8]

Testing out my new Raspberry Pi 3 Emulator. Got to the 20th screen. I ran out of guys. The colors and sound are AMAZING!!! 👍

 

 

 

[cmadruga]

[Player One]

21800

I finally broke 20K!

 

[gar0u]

I'm noticing some weird game loop timing issues.  Curious if anyone else has?

 

1. Shooting an alien right as it lands.  Game over.  (Green border)

2. White border, clearing the screen right as you get hit with a guided missile.  Game freezes. (White border)

 

These both happened on the Flashback console.  Going to break out the Intellivision II and the original cart Sunday evening and play with that next week to see if there is a difference.  Not sure if it's the ROM or the emulator in the Flashback.

 

Broke 13K this afternoon.  Read the rule book. 

 

Gotta shoot those red saucers!

[Intelligentleman]

18 minutes ago, gar0u said:

I'm noticing some weird game loop timing issues.  Curious if anyone else has?

 

1. Shooting an alien right as it lands.  Game over.  (Green border)

2. White border, clearing the screen right as you get hit with a guided missile.  Game freezes. (White border)

 

These both happened on the Flashback console.  Going to break out the Intellivision II and the original cart Sunday evening and play with that next week to see if there is a difference.  Not sure if it's the ROM or the emulator in the Flashback.

 

Broke 13K this afternoon.  Read the rule book. 

 

Gotta shoot those red saucers!

Let us know what you find. My game has frozen once in this hsc season

[IntyFanMatt]

42,820
This is my personal best on this game. Took a lot of work tonight to get there. Those 2 completely invisible boards are so damn hard for me, so I’m happy with this score. Gotta go ice my thumb now.

 

Edited July 18, 2020 by IntyFanMatt

[roadrunner]

15 hours ago, IntyFanMatt said:

Yep, I shared that link earlier. He states something that I agree with… that the aliens are too big for the screen. 

Ok, my mistake. I musta missed it. i see it now  

 

[Player One]

22900

 

[mr_me]

13 hours ago, IntyFanMatt said:

What I envision is the aliens would be bigger than the ones in Space Invaders, but a bit smaller than they are now.  Maybe the homebrew community could tweak this game a bit to give us those options!

Homebrew programmers like those back in the 1980s, tend not to compromise graphic details, which is what you'd have to do for a properly proportioned space invaders clone.

 

As a kid, one of the closest arcade machines to me was a space invaders.  I played it quite a bit back then and can play it any time now in Mame.  It makes it hard for me to get into Space Armada.

 

Edit: The atari 2600 space invaders, having similar resolution to intellivision, has smaller invaders but also has fewer colums and more rows.  It plays closer to the arcade.  I'm thinking with intellivision, using background scrolling rather than tile animation along with smaller invaders you could get even closer.

Edited July 18, 2020 by mr_me

[Oscar G.]

13 hours ago, Intelligentleman said:

Oh noooo... do you have a replacement?

Yes. Luckily I have. I should have a Sears somewhere. Plan B is the flashback. My two 2609 and now my INTV 2 present problems. I think that the capacitors inside are failing. They are getting too old...

[Player One]

24340

[Player One]

24540

[Ace24]

A very slight improvement.

[IntyFanMatt]

61,100
Improvement today!  Fun game but man it is so hard.